New Country captain off to fine start

Press, 8 May 1980, Page 38

New Country captain off to fine start

From

BOB SCHUMACHER

in Motueka Canterbury Country's new captain, Ross Loffhagen, mav not be as vocal or as blunt as his predecessor, Alex Wyllie. but he has undoubted leadership qualities which showed out in his team’s 13-7 victory against Nelson Bays at Motueka yesterday. Country started the last 15 minutes with a deficit of] one point and edged ahead. 9-7, when Alister Roberts drop-kicked a goal with 14 minutes remaining. As the players reas-l sembled Loffhagen asked fori greater pressure and it was] fitting that he should score] the try four minutes later] that sealed Nelson Bays’ fate. It was a try that Wyllie] would have been proud to claim. A timely push by the Country pack won a tighthead near Nelson Bays’ line and Loffhagen scooped the ball cleanly to dive across untouched. Before the final 15 minutes of the match Country, although having a territorial advantage, seemed stuck in neutral but once the gear was found it moved in a] much more purposeful and! determined manner. I Nelson Bays did not seem to possess much attacking flair but it deserved to start the last quarter of the match ahead through its uncompromising approach. The forwards contested possession vigorously, taking the honours in the first half, and the backs, if rather anonymous most of the time, were reasonably competent in carrying out the fundamentals of the game. The only time a move of some ingenuity was tried, it resulted in an excellent try. The match was rather disappointing. Untidy line-outs, mass pile-ups of bodies over the ball, and wasteful kicking by the inside backs led to regular stalemates. It ] was strength-sapping for the ' forwards and turned the \ match into an endurance test from which Country • gained the higher marks. ' There were glaring weak- : nesses in certain areas in . both teams' and the respec- ; tive coaches will have plen-> J ty of homework to do in 1 preparation for their next ‘ games. But on a day where 1 individual brilliance was virtually non-existent, there I were two exceptions, ' i Paul McKay, a former 1 Canterbury B playei- and now 1 the hooker and forward s leader of Nelson Bays, had 1 an outstanding match. He t

l won eight tight-heads, four !of them when Nelson Bays I was on desperate defence ’;His general play was also of •la high quality. 5 The Country hooker Matt .'Wilson, also had a useful ■ all-round game and managed lifive tight-heads in reply, but i four came in the last 10 : minutes when the Nelson i Bays pack has lost its steam. U Country’s bright light was 'I its full-back. Dennis Smo- . Henski. The persistent kick- : ing ahead meant he was fully employed. His fielding of the high or rolling ball ]was impeccable and his long iline kicks had the Nelson ]Bay players retracing their I steps and often retreating i behind their starting pointIn comparision the Nelson I Bays custodian. Stuart Daysman, had a dreadful match. It was unfortunate that Country did not place more confidence in its outside backs. Not until the sixtyfifth minute did ths ball move along the chain and that movement almost brought a try. Don Stewart, at centre, remains an intelligent arid'in* cisive attacker, but he was starved of ball so much sc j that he might just as well have stayed at his hotel for the second sitting of lunch. Although there were signs of promise, the half-back, Brian Grant and the first five-eighth, Alister Roberts, did not; have the best of debuts. Stewart and the wings, Ross Saunders and Neil Burton, were thirsting for work but had to create their own opportunities. Dropped goals are a useful means of scoring points, but Robert's attempted them too often.After several rampaging runs, "Blue” Mika was-des-cribed by a Nelson Bays supporter as a human bulldozer. He certainly ploughed through many half-hearted tackles on the course of several strong runs. Jock Ross and Bruce Farmer, after losing the line-outs battle in the first half found L their jumping rhythm in ]thd second spell to give Country a slight edge from that fiqnrce, The Canterbury flankers, Barney Henderson anti Doni Hayes, have had better games, although Hendwon did much retrieving of loose ball in ithe second Sh'alf. points camel from a [try by Loffhagen, a dropped goal by (Roberts and two penalty goals by Smolenski.- Bob Neighbours scored for Nelson Bays and Nigel Kotua kicked a penalty goal.